{"id":128523,"date":"2025-08-18T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T10:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=128523"},"modified":"2025-08-15T16:30:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T20:30:32","slug":"cchr-addresses-un-to-end-coercive-psychiatry-and-protect-children-from-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/cchr-addresses-un-to-end-coercive-psychiatry-and-protect-children-from-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"CCHR Addresses UN to End Coercive Psychiatry and Protect Children from Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 18, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR)<\/a> addressed the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on August 11, urging the global abolition of electroshock treatment (ECT), forced drugging, psychosurgery, and other coercive psychiatric practices\u2014especially when used on children. CCHR told the Committee that these practices constitute sanctioned abuse, often amounting to torture, and continue with impunity due to weak or unenforced penalties against perpetrators.<\/p>\n

\"CCHR
Image caption: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) addressed the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on August 11, urging the global abolition of electroshock treatment (ECT), forced drugging, psychosurgery, and other coercive psychiatric practices – especially when used on children.<\/em><\/p>\n

Founded in 1969, CCHR has spent over five decades documenting and exposing psychiatric abuse and advocating for rights-based alternatives to coercion. The group commended the CRPD Committee for its leadership in advancing a human rights-based approach to mental health, aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) and UN guidance.<\/p>\n

CCHR\u2019s Executive Director, Fran Andrews, detailed the organization\u2019s landmark legislative victories: the first U.S. ban on ECT for children under 12 in California (1976), Texas\u2019 ban for those under 16 (1993), and Western Australia\u2019s 2014 prohibition for children under 14\u2014backed by criminal penalties. The Australian Capital Territory banned ECT under the age of 12 in 2015.<\/p>\n

Despite these precedents, ECT remains in use worldwide, including on very young children. In the U.S., children as young as five can still receive electroshock, with both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry promoting its use in minors.<\/p>\n

International data underscores the scope of the problem. A 2022 review found significant ECT use on 10\u201318-year-olds in the Czech Republic, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden.[1]<\/p>\n

In New Zealand, a government inquiry confirmed that children were subjected to electroshock without anesthetic at the now closed Lake Alice psychiatric hospital\u2014treatment survivors described as torture and confirmed last year by the country\u2019s Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Prominent Australian psychiatrist Dr. Niall McLaren has stated unequivocally: \u201cNo psychiatrist needs to use ECT.\u201d[2]<\/p>\n

CCHR President Jan Eastgate testified about the alarming rise in psychotropic drugging of children worldwide. A Lancet Psychiatry<\/em> report confirmed global increases in prescribing, with the U.S. leading in prevalence rates for youth. Depending on the cohort, antipsychotic prescribing for children has surged by 50% to 200% over the past two decades.[3]<\/p>\n

Many parents remain unaware of the risks\u2014weight gain, metabolic changes, diabetes, tremor, sedation, and even sudden death. The antipsychotic risperidone, widely prescribed to children as young as four, has been linked to severe side effects, including gynecomastia (female breast growth in boys), sometimes requiring mastectomies.<\/p>\n

In Spain, CCHR President Salvador Fern\u00e1ndez warned of the ongoing prescription of ADHD stimulants such as methylphenidate, despite documented risks of suicidal behavior, psychosis, and cardiovascular complications.<\/p>\n

Eastgate also addressed deaths of children as young as 7 in U.S. for-profit psychiatric hospitals from restraint, some ruled homicides. Yet prosecutions are rare, and facilities continue to operate, profiting from insurance coverage.<\/p>\n

A New York Times<\/em> investigation in September 2025 revealed that one of the largest private psychiatric hospital chains in the U.S. has detained individuals against their will to maximize insurance billing, prompting judicial intervention in some cases.<\/p>\n

In Spain, Fern\u00e1ndez testified that children are still subjected to involuntary hospitalization and prolonged mechanical and chemical restraints.<\/p>\n

CCHR\u2019s written submission to the CRPD cited studies showing psychiatric hospitalization can raise suicide risk 44-fold, while forced psychiatric drugging increases the risk sixfold.[4] A July 2025 study found that those involuntarily hospitalized were nearly twice as likely to die by suicide or overdose within three months of discharge.[5]<\/p>\n

A 2022 European study confirmed widespread use of mechanical and chemical restraints, with inconsistent regulations across countries.[6] In the U.S., a Harvard Law School report found that state hospitals continue to use forced ECT and other practices that may constitute torture under international law.[7]<\/p>\n

CRPD\u2019s press release on its 33rd session acknowledged CCHR\u2019s evidence and concerns.[8]<\/p>\n

Ms. Eastgate told the Committee: \u201cElectroshock, psychosurgery, forced drugging, seclusion, and restraint are not care\u2014they are sanctioned abuse and must end. Upholding a person\u2019s autonomy, dignity, and liberty is non-negotiable. Rights-based alternatives must replace outdated, violent psychiatric practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCHR urged the CRPD to call for:<\/strong><\/p>\n